The
NBA Workoutof Baron DavisEven if you don't play pro hoops, you
can use the tricks of this year's breakout star to get in prime-time shape.

Last off-season New Orleans Hornets point guard
Baron Davis worked out for six hours a day. You won't be doing
that. But if you take these pages with you to the gym and do the four
tough hour-long workouts every week, a month from now they might need
to clear a spot for you on the Hornets' bench. Best of all, Davis's coolest
trick will actually save you time: By splitting one of your workouts into
two sessions you can get 50 percent more bang for the same hour.

DAY
1 (ONE HOUR)
• Jump rope A favorite of Davis's off-season conditioning
guru, Dartgnan Stamps, for increasing foot speed. (400 jumps)
• Sprint-and-drop Run the width of a basketball court,
drop, and do ten push-ups. (10 sprints)
• Stability dribble drill (right) The first of many core
strengtheners with little-used equipment found at any health club. Stand
on a Core board holding a medicine ball to your chest. Rotate your upper
body to the left, then the right, and then fire the ball to the ground
and catch it as it comes back up. (20 dribbles)
• Seated figure eight Sit on a stability ball holding a ten-pound
medicine ball in front of you. Your elbows should be tight by your sides.
Slowly make a figure-eight motion with the ball, moving your lower body
as little as possible. (15 figure eights, then 15 in the opposite direction)
• Dumbbell chest press* (2 sets of 10)
• Incline chest press (2 sets of 10)
• Standing cable fly (2 sets of 10)
• Standing dumbbell curl Curl one arm, then the other, for
one rep. (2 sets of 10)
• Single-arm triceps extension From a seated position, with
the weight behind your head (not behind your shoulder), extend your arm
until it's pointing straight up. (2 sets of 10 with each arm)
• Elliptical machine (25 minutes)

*As with all
dumbbell or weight machine exercises, use the heaviest weight that comfortably
allows you to complete all the reps.

DAY
2 (ONE HOUR)
• Jump rope (400 jumps)
• High knee-raise sprint Sprint the length of a basketball
court staying on your toes and lifting your knees as high as possible.
(20 sprints)
• DynaDisc figure eight Step onto a pair of discs (they look
like deflated dodge balls) holding a ten-pound medicine ball. (15 figure
eights in each direction, as described earlier)
• Seated reverse crunch Sit on a flat bench with your legs
sticking straight out over the end. Supporting yourself with your arms,
lean back until your upper body is at a 45-degree angle to the bench and
slowly bring your knees up to your chest, keeping your upper body stable.
Slowly return them to the start position to complete the move. (2 sets
of 15)
• Leg curl (2 sets of 10)
• Seated leg extension (2 sets of 10)
• Hip abduction (2 sets of 10 on the standard Nautilus apparatus)
• Hip adduction (2 sets of 10)
• Stability-ball dumbbell chest press (right)Like a standard
chest press but while lying with your back on the ball to get in a little
more work on the core. (2 sets of 10)
• Dumbbell front raise You're now getting into the part of
the workout designed to really carve up the shoulders. Making sure your
arms remain just outside of shoulder width, raise first one, then the
other, for one rep. (2 sets of 10)
• Dumbbell lateral raise To work the outside of the shoulder,
stand bending slightly at the waist, holding a weight in each hand, your
palms facing each other. Raise your arms to the sides until they're parallel
to the ground, then return. (2 sets of 10)
• Rear deltoid dumbbell raise Lie face down on a bench set
to a 45-degree incline with weights in each hand, your arms hanging off
the bench and slightly bent. Keeping that same elbow bend, raise your
arms to the sides until they are parallel to the ground, then return.
(2 sets of 10)
• Single-arm dumbbell row Now for the back of the shoulders,
hold a weight in your right hand, lean over, and place your left hand
and knee on a bench for support. Keeping your back slightly arched and
your shoulders parallel to the ground, draw the weight-bearing elbow up
toward the ceiling, then return. (2 sets of 10, then switch sides and
repeat)
• Stationary bike (25 minutes)

DAY
3 (A.M., 30 MINUTES)
• Jump rope (400 jumps)
• Two-mile run (8 to 10 minutes per mile)
• DynaDisc foot-speed drill To develop the core, balance,
and foot speed all at once, stand on the discs while holding a medicine
ball. Do a small, quick hop so that your left foot is on the floor and
your right foot is on the disc your left foot was just on. Hop back to
your original position, then do a quick hop in the opposite direction,
so that your right foot is on the floor. (20 moves in each direction)
• DynaDisc dribble drill Stand on one foot on a disc holding
a basketball with both hands at chest level. (Be glad that it's not a
medicine ball.) Bounce and catch it while maintaining your balance. (20
dribbles on each foot)
• Stability dribble drill Back to the medicine ball and the
Core board. (20 dribbles)
• Instability push-up (right) Do 2 sets of 20 with your hands
holding the Core board.
• Stationary bike (25 minutes)
day 3 (p.m., 30 minutes)
• Jump rope (400 jumps)
• Seated figure eight (15 in each direction)
• Leg curl (2 sets of 10)
• Seated leg extension (2 sets of 10)
• Hip abduction (2 sets of 10)
• Hip adduction (2 sets of 10)
• Smith rack squat The safer squat (2 sets of 10)
• Front raise (2 sets of 10)
• Lateral raise (2 sets of 10)
• Rear deltoid raise (2 sets of 10)
• Single-arm dumbbell row (2 sets of 10)
• Elliptical machine (25 minutes)

DAY
4 (ONE HOUR)
• Jump rope (400 jumps)
q Butt kicker Sprint the length of a basketball court trying to make your
heel touch your butt with each stride. You may want to wait until everyone
else has gone home. (20 sprints)
• Stability-ball squat To work the legs and core, place your
back up against a stability ball pinned to the wall. Slowly lower your
butt until your thighs are parallel to the ground. Return to the starting
position. (3 sets of 10)
• Lying figure eight Lie on a stability ball so that your
back is supported by the ball and your hips are up. Hold a ten-pound medicine
ball at arm's length in front of you, above your chest. Move the ball
in a figure eight while trying to keep your body as still as possible.
(15 figure eights, first in one direction, then in the other)
• Stability-ball dumbbell chest press (2 sets of 10)
• Stability-ball concentration curl To work the core while
also isolating the biceps, sit on a stability ball with your legs wide
apart and a dumbbell in your right hand. Lean forward slightly, letting
the weight drop down between your legs. Place your right elbow against
the inside of your right thigh to stabilize the upper arm. Flex the elbow
to bring the weight up to the shoulder. Return to the starting position.
(2 sets of 10 with each arm)
• Superset of dumbbell chest press and incline chest press
Do 10 chest presses followed immediately by 10 incline presses. Wait 40
seconds, then do another superset.
• Superset of standing dumbbell curl and single-arm triceps extension
The same idea as above. Do 10 biceps curls followed immediately by 10
triceps extensions with the right arm, then 10 with the left arm. Wait
40 seconds and repeat.
• Elliptical machine (25 minutes)

Get Juiced UpFor the diet you'll be following during your monthlong
program, Baron Davis's personal chef Shalese Edmond has carefully constructed
a menu high in protein, low in fat and carbs, and made with only the freshest
ingredients. "The real secret, though," she says, "is my special juice."
At breakfast the juice is made from six carrots, an inch-long piece of
ginger, an apple, and six sprigs of parsley. To cut the sweetness for
lunch and dinner, Edmond leaves out the apple and ginger.

Divide & ConquerNo one can work out for six hours straight, not even an
NBA point guard whose physical state was imperiling his new $84 million
contract. So Dartgnan Stamps split Davis's off-season regimen into two sessions
each day, in the process taking advantage of a little-known concept of fitness
dynamics: By breaking up a workout around some midday rest and refueling,
you might be able to increase the impact by 50 percent.

How can they tell? According to a 1997 University of
Virginia study, the body responds to the on-again/off-again stress by
pumping out extra human growth hormone -- the same chemical lately popular
among bodybuilders and geezers, and the key indicator of a workout's efficiency.
While some HGH takers wind up with misshapen foreheads, the hormone is
safe when generated naturally. More than that, the approach could be a
great way to maximize your hour in the gym. Remember, twice a day gains
you an hour and a half.